


Christmas on Rannoch

by Vorcha_Girl



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Comedy, F/F, Fluff, Kissing, Love, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 03:54:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17236919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vorcha_Girl/pseuds/Vorcha_Girl
Summary: Tali attempts to replicate Christmas on Rannoch to surprise Commander Shepard, but she may have misunderstood one or two things!





	Christmas on Rannoch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [geekybones](https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekybones/gifts).



> A/N - Merry Christmas! I rarely get a chance to write for Tali/fShep, but I simply adore them as a couple and I hope you like this fluffy and silly piece I've written for them. It's set post Reaper-war and is, honestly, a bit of a fluffy comedy piece.

Christmas on Rannoch was unusual to say the least. 

To be fair, Tali had only ever witnessed Christmas on the Normandy, and she usually spent the holiday season in hushed whispers with Garrus and Liara, concern obvious in their tones as they watched Shepard swap her armour for an ugly Christmas sweater, happily singing carols as she strung up tinsel on a tree.

“But … what purpose does it serve?” Garrus had ventured once, curiosity getting the better of him as he eyed the tinsel and glittering ornaments on the tree suspiciously. “Does it ward off bad spirits? Can you eat them? Is it a defensive trap for enemies?”

Shepard had laughed. “It just looks pretty. It’s a celebration that grew out of a religious holiday. You guys  _ must  _ have religious celebrations?”

“Our religious holidays are more …  _ dignified _ ,” had been his emphatic reply, and he’d listened in abject horror as James explained about Santa.

None of the aliens had broached the subject again, and Shepard, though she loved Tali, hadn’t been able to stifle her giggles when she’d over heard her and Garrus discussing the ‘ _ Giant Red Bearded Man _ ’ who broke into human homes on Christmas Eve to give rewards to good children and deal out punishments to the bad ones.

“Vega told me he keeps a list,” she’d heard Garrus whisper conspiratorially to Tali, “of the children who are naughty and nice. And that he’s always watching them.  _ Always _ .”

Tali had shuddered. “What kind of a people would create such a thing for their children? And Shepard? She believes this? She thinks this is  _ fun? _ ”

“James said she believes in the spirit of Christmas, yes.”

Shepard had covered her mouth to hold in the giggles and crept away so they wouldn’t know she’d heard them. And then she had forgotten that little exchange, at least until  _ now _ , years later on Rannoch as she experienced her first  _ quarian Christmas _ , and realised just how horrifyingly  _ wrong _ Tali’s idea of Christmas was.

First of all, Tali had somehow procured a fake Christmas tree. But as the quarians lacked tinsel or baubles, she had decorated it with reams of copper wire, empty shell casings that she had polished to a gleaming copper, and small holograms of a droid that looked suspiciously like Tali’s attack droid Chiktikka. The tree  _ had  _ looked incredibly beautiful, and Shepard’s heart swelled with love when she’d seen her efforts.

_ Except  _ the tree had an unpleasant habit of generating static electricity and zapping anyone who brushed against it. After receiving her first few zaps from the tree, Shepard was too terrified to go near it, and she stayed well away from the tree and the presents underneath it.

_ It was fine _ , she told herself as she cringed away from the evil tree and settled down on the couch, snuggling against Tali and taking a sip of the warm cup of hot chocolate that her girlfriend had made her, _ it was the thought that counts. _

Unfortunately, that’s when _ Santa Prime _ burst in through the front door. 

“Merry Christmas!” Tali trilled cheerfully as the giant geth prime dressed as Santa Claus bore down on them ominously. “Here comes Santa!”

Shepard screamed.

Unfortunately, the site of a geth prime wearing a red suit and snowy-white beard while brandishing a huge box - which it swung ominously at Shepard while shouting at her that she was on his “nice” list - didn’t garner quite the reaction Tali expected.

If Shepard had been holding a gun, she would have shot the geth and run, as it was, she only had time to scream in horror, throw her drink at it and hide behind the evil copper wrapped tree (which zapped her) before she worked out that Santa Prime wasn’t there to murder her, and that this was yet another of her girlfriends attempts to “get into the human holiday spirit”.

“What?” Tali asked, peering behind the tree at Shepard. “Aren’t I being merry enough? I thought you liked Santa?”

Shepard gaped up at her, eyes wide, peering from Tali to the Santa Prime as she gathered her wits. “No, this is … great. Santa is great,” she managed to gasp. “You’ve done really good, Tali.”

She wasn’t sure sounded entirely convincing, but after a moment, Tali blinked her luminescent black eyes at her, always so innocent, and smiled brilliantly. “Excellent! Because I have one more present for you!”

Shepard couldn’t stop the small moan of terror that escaped her lips.

_More?_ _Tali had more in store for her?! What else would she do? Shower her with Christmas holly that turned out to be stinging nettles? Reveal that the coco she had been drinking was dextro based and it was a cheeky Christmas trick?_

“Yes!” Tali was saying happily, and she reached beneath the tree and took out a small, brightly wrapped box that fit in the palm of her hand. She hesitated a moment and then passed it to Shepard, their fingers brushing lightly. This time the sparks that jumped between them were the good kind, and they both smiled. “It isn’t much, but it’s from the heart,” she said softly.

Shepard grinned, her eyes following the now familiar lines of Tali’s face, the lovely black markings, the softly falling curls of her hair.

“You got me a present?” she asked. “What is it?”

“Open it and see!” Tali asked, laughing and pulling them them down to the floor.

Shepard noticed with amusement that Tali also avoided touching the tree, and guessed that she’d received a few zaps of her own. 

They settled down together on the floor and Shepard carefully peeled off the layer of gold wrapping and red ribbon, the box inside gleamed, and she opened it with a flourish. Staring with a little bit of confusion at the keycard sitting inside.

“The key … to your heart?” She guessed whimsically, glancing at Tali.

She laughed, and Shepard grinned back. 

“Well, you do have the key to my heart, but this is the key to my house, here on Rannoch!” Tali scooted closer and pulled Shepard into her arms, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You’re a part of my life now and I wanted to show you that. My home is your home. You are my family; on the Normandy, on Earth, and on Rannoch.”

Shepard blinked back tears as a rush of emotion suffused her. Tali, she knew, was prone to grand gestures and adored romance of all sorts, but she now felt incredibly humbled, and woefully unprepared. She clutched the keycard tightly and pulled her into a kiss, her lips warm and welcoming under her own, and held her tightly.

“I love you so much, Tali. Thank you for this, and for Christmas. But,” she took a deep breath and looked sheepish. “I have a confession to make.” Shepard reached under the tree, received a zap for her trouble, and pulled out a large squishy package which she handed to Tali. “I only got you an Ugly Christmas Sweater.”

Tali grinned brightly and snatched the gift, tearing into it eagerly. “But Shepard!” she gushed as the gold, green and red sweater covered in Varren wearing Santa hats tumbled out, “According to the human extranet website I researched, this is the  _ ultimate  _ human Christmas gift!”

And with every semblance of happiness, she pulled it on.

Love, bright and full of colour, bubbled up inside of Shepard, and she grinned and kissed the tip of Tali’s nose. “Merry Christmas, Tali.”

“And a Merry Christmas to you too,Shepard!”

Behind them, the Santa Prime continued to wave the box it wanted to deliver to Shepard. “Merry Christmas to all, and to all goodnight!” it boomed as it knocked their cups of hot chocolate over in it’s enthusiasm.

Shepard didn’t mind, and she cuddled Tali tighter; Christmas on Rannoch had been the best Christmas ever.


End file.
